Submissions/An Information Sharing Platform on Informal Settlements in South Africa

After careful consideration, the programme committee has decided not to accept the below submission at this time. Thank you to the author(s) for participating in the Wikimania 2013 programme submission, we hope to still see you at Wikimania this August.

Submission no.: 2018
Subject no.: B10

Title of the submission: An Information Sharing Platform on Informal Settlements in South Africa

Type of submission: Presentation

Author of the submission: Dylan Weakley

Country of origin: South Africa

Affiliation: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

E-mail address: weakleydylan+wikigmail.com

Username: dyltong

Personal homepage or blog: sainformalsettlement.com

Abstract

In 2007, for the first time, the worlds population became more urban than rural. Much of this urban growth and migration has taken place in the 'developing world' with city housing and planning authorities often unable to meet new demand for housing formally in the city. This ha lead to the growth of informal housing, often through the growth of informal settlements, sometimes referred to in international literature as 'slums'. In order for planning and city authorities to engage better with these informal settlements and vice-versa, better information sharing and creation is needed. This is proposed through the subject of this talk, the website www.sainformalsettlement.com.

Detailed proposal

In 2007, for the first time, the world’s population became more urban than rural. Much of this urban growth and migration has taken place in the 'developing world' with city housing and planning authorities often unable to meet new demand for housing formally in the city. This has led to the growth of informal housing, often through the growth of informal settlements, sometimes referred to in international literature as 'slums'. While these informal settlements play an important role in housing growing urban populations, they are often characterised by poor living and social conditions.

At the same time, there is a general drive to ‘eradicate’ these settlements as if they were a disease, rather than to integrate them into the city. One of the main obstacles to effective engagement between city authorities and informal settlements and their residents is a lack of data on them. Due to their informal nature, data on informal settlements is difficult to obtain and can, due to their ever changing nature, can quickly go out of date. (Huchzermeyer, 2011).

As such, better platforms for knowledge creation and sharing are needed to promote decision making across scales, and to promote better engagement between informal settlers and city authorities. This talk will outline the creation of the website sainformalsettlement.com, a wiki designed for the sharing of knowledge on informal settlements in South Africa. Here communities, NGO’s, Academics and City Authorities (among multiple possible other stakeholders) could use the platform. While it is in its early stages of creation, it is intended to be a source through which knowledge can be ‘democratised’ towards meaningful development in informal settlements.

Citation

Huchzermeyer, M. (2011). Cities With Slums. Cape Town: UCT Press.

Track

Cultural and Educational Outreach

Length of presentation/talk: 25 Minutes

Language of presentation/talk: English

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: If scholarship is awarded, yes.

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MADe (talk) 08:38, 16 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Man77 (talk) 19:55, 17 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
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